Easy Way To Calibrate Air Seeders

Easy Way To Calibrate Air Seeders AIR SEEDERS Air Seeders (42B) 21-2-31 "It works great when you're switching varieties, seed lots, or if you need to vary seeding rates between fields," says Ron Aberle about the simple system he uses to calibrate his air seeder. The Menoken, N. Dak., farmer uses his Case-IH Concord 4812 air seeder to plant both oil and confection sunflowers, but feels the idea could be used with any seeder on any crop. "Anytime you've got a huge tank you're dumping seed into, getting the proper seeding rate involves a certain amount of guess-work," he says. "Not with this system. It's extremely accurate." He uses an open-ended rectangular box made out of 1/2-in. thick plywood with 2 by 2's in the corners. The 16 by 20-in. box is 7-ft. long. He lowers the box on end inside the empty tank of his drill so it sits right above the seed flute. He then empties a couple bags of seed into the box and drives around the yard until the seed settles. Next, he measures the distance from the top of the box to the top of the seed pile inside. After that, he plants a few acres in the field. He once again measures the distance to the top of the seed in the box. Knowing the number of seeds in the bags emptied into the box, he then calculates how many were planted during the test run. Dividing the number of acres seeded in the test by the number of seeds sown gives him per-acre seed drop. If he's hit his desired population, he fills the box and begins planting. If not, he makes necessary adjustments and re-tests. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Aberle, 2300 158th St. NE, Menoken, N. Dak. 58558 (ph 701 258-9645).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.